Woman accuses men of ‘forceful conversion’

BAREILLY, India — A woman in the city of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh state, India, has accused six of her uncles and their pastor of trying to forcefully convert her to Christianity. The men involved said the accusations are an attempt to get revenge after a dispute erupted over a drainage channel. Saroj Maurya, 35, approached local newspapers with a statement accusing her uncles and Assemblies of God Pastor Mehboob Masih of attempted forced conversion. On May 6, leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh told Masih he would meet the same fate as Australian missionary Graham Staines and two of his children, who were burned alive in Orissa state in January 1999, if he continued to hold prayer meetings. “They also said if I gathered people for prayer, they would instead hold a Hindu worship ceremony in my house,” Masih said.